IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


V 


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f/. 


Zi9 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


l^|Z8     12.5 
■so   ™^"     MSB 

ia||22 

2.0 


1^ 
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ImUu 

lU 

U    ill  1.6 


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Photographic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY.  14580 

(716)  8724503 


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CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHM/ICiVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  IVIicroreproductions  /  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographicaliy  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


V 


/ 


k/ 


D 


D 
D 
D 
D 

n 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 

Covers  damaged/ 
Couverture  endommeg^e 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurde  et/ou  pelliculee 


□    Cover  title  missing/ 
Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

□    Coloured  maps/ 
C 


n 


Cartes  g6ographiques  en  couleur 


Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 


Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relid  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

Lareliure  serrde  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intdrieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
il  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajoutdes 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  dtd  filmdes. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppldmentaires; 


L'institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6td  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  pduvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mdthode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqu6s  ci-dessous. 


□    Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 

□    Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagdes 

□    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  pelliculdes 


V 


n 


Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  d6color6es,  tachetdes  ou  piqu6es 


r~l    Pages  detached/ 


Pages  ddtach6es 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

Qualitd  indgale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  materij 
Comprend  du  materiel  suppldmentaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 


r"l  Showthrough/ 

I      I  Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I      I  Includes  supplementary  material/ 

I      I  Only  edition  available/ 


Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6t6  film^es  d  nouveau  de  fagon  d 
obtenir  la  meilleure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  filmd  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqud  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


26X 


30X 


v/ 

12X 


16X 


;JX 


24X 


28X 


32X 


laire 
s  details 
:|ues  du 
It  modifier 
liger  une 
e  filmage 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Izaaic  Walton  Killam  Memorial  Library 
Dalhousie  University 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


L'exemplaire  filmi  fut  reproduit  grfice  d  la 
g6n6rosit6  de: 

Izaak  Walton  Killam  IVIemorial  Library 
Dalhousie  University 

Les  images  suivantes  ont  6tC  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin.  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettetd  de  l'exemplaire  filmd,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


1/ 
u6es 


Origine'  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimie  sent  film^s  en  commengant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  salon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  film6s  en  commengant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  —^-(meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 


lire 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
film^s  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diff6rents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clich6,  11  est  film6  d  partir 
de  I'angle  supdrieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite. 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  ndcessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


by  errata 
led  to 

ent 

jne  pelure, 

'aeon  d 


1 

2 

3 

32X 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

r — /M-  y 


'*T:T  »' 


OAK   ISLAND 

TREASURE  COMPANY, 


CAPITAL, 


Sim  THOUSAND  DOLLAIIS. 


Shares  Only  Five  Dollars  Each, 


FULL  PAID  AND  N0N-ASSES3ABLE. 


Main  Office:  No.  4  Liberty  Square,  Boston,  Masn. 


CAN 

.on 


BROCKTON: 

MANOEVIIiLE  «&  CO.,   PBINTKKS, 
1893. 


4 


I     ' 


-'AT 


' >^.l9 


1Ilall)iiU!iiic  Collci^c  flibvani 


JOHN    JAMES    STEWART 

COLLECTION 


>. .-, 


OAK  ISLAND 

TREASURE  COMPANY. 


11 


CAPITAL, 


Sim  THOUSAND  DOLLARS. 

Shares  OaIj  Five  Dollars  Each, 


FULL  PAID  AND  NON-ASSESSABLE. 


g.  Main  OflBce '  No.  4  Liberty  Square,  Boston,  Mass. 


imuCK  TON  : 

MANDKVIlil-K   &  CO.,   PRINTKKS, 
18i)3. 


G  f-3/ 


-j^^^  H/^l 


BURIED  TREASURE. 


SUI'I'OSEl)      IM.l'NDr.R      OK      THE      I'IRATKS      TO      HE       RECOVERED      BY 

MODERN     SCIENCE. 


AN     Al    rHKNTU:     ACCOUNT    OF    EFFORTS    MADE    TO     REGAIN     HIDDEN 

AND    FABULOUS    RICHES. 


Much  fictioi-;  has  been  written  concerning  great* sums  of  money 
and  vast  quantities  of  jewels  buried  by  pirates  some  200  years  ago 
somewhere  along  the  Atlantic  coast.  Our  story  has  to  do  only 
with  factt,  as  stated  by  the  men  now  living  and  who  had  a  hand 
in  them,  or  as  told  to  them  by  men  now  dead.      It  can  be  proven: 

1.  That  a  shaft  about  13  feet  in  diameter  and  100  feet  deep 
was  sunk  on  Oak  Island  in  Mahone  bay,  Nova  Scotia,  before  the 
memory  of  any  now  living. 

2.  That  this  shaft  was  connected  by  an  underground  tunnel 
with  the  open  ocean,  about  365  feet  distant. 

3.  That  at  the  bottom  of  this  shaft  were  placed  large  wooden 
boxes  in  which  were  precious  metals  and  jewels. 

4.  That  many  attempts  have  been  made,  without  success,  to 
obtain  this  treasure. 

5.  That  it  is  reasonably  certain  the  treasure  is  large,  because 
so  great  a  t  -ouble  would  never  have  been  taken  to  conceal  any 
small  sum. 

6.  Ihat  it  is  now  entirely  feasible  to  thoroughly  explore  this 
shaft  and  recover  the  treasure  still  located  therein. 

THE    STORY    IN    DETAIL. 

Oak  Island  is  situated  near  the  head  of  Mahone  Bay,  Nova 
Scotia.     A  narrow  channel  separates  it  from  the  main   land,  at 


^N      O 


that  point  known  as  tlie  Western  Shore,  and  four  miles  from  the 
town  of  Chester.  The  island  is  about  a  mile  in  length  and  half 
as  broad.  'I'he formation  is  a  very  hard,  tough  clay.  The  eastern 
end  was  originallv  covered  with  oak  timber,  several  groves  of 
which  still  remain.     There  are  over  300  islands  in  the  bay. 

About  the  close  of  the  last  century  this  part  of  the  country 
was  very  sparsely  populated  and  the  island  in  ([uestion  was  without 
an  inhabitant.  In  1795,  three  men  —  Smith,  McCiinnis  and 
Vaughn, —  visited  the  island,  and  while  rambling  over  the  eastern 
part  of  it,  came  to  a  spot,  of  which  the  unusual  and  strange  con- 
ditions at  once  enc^aged  their  attention.  (Mr.  \'aughn  himself, 
who  was  only  a  lad  of  16  at  this  time,  subsequently  related  these 
facts  to  Mr.  Robert  Creelman,  who  still  lives  at  I'pper  Stewiacke, 
N.  S.,  and  who  was  afterwarils  the  manager  of  a  company  formed 
to  recover  the  treasure.)  Tt  had  every  appearance  of  having  been 
cleared  many  years  before.  Red  clover  and  otiicr  |)lants  alto- 
gether foreign  to  the  soil  in  its  natural  state  were  growing.  Near 
the  center  stood  a  large  oak  tree  with  marks  and  figures  on  its 
trunk.  ( )ne  of  the  lower  and  larger  branches  of  this,  the  outer  end 
of  which  had  been  sawed  off,  projected  directly  over  the  centre  of 
a  dee])  circular  depression  in  the  land  about  1.5  feet  in  diameter. 
These  and  other  "signs"  shortly  after  led  the  three  men  named  to 
commence  work. 

After  digging  a  few  feet,  they  found  that  they  were  working 
in  a  well  defined  shaft,  the  walls  of  which  were  hard  and  solid; 
and  it  is  said  that  in  some  places  old  pick  marks  were  plainly  to  be 
seen,  while  within  these  walls  the  earth  was  so  loose  that  picks 
were  not  recjuired.  On  reaching  a  depth  of  lo  feet  they  came 
to  a  covering  of  oak  plank.  They  kept  on  digging  until  a  depth 
of  30  feet  was  reached,  finding  marks  at  each  jo  feet.  At  this 
point  the  work  proved  to  be  too  heavy  for  them.  Superstitious 
beliefs  were  in  full  force  in  that  part  of  the  country  at  that  time, 
and  on  this  account  they  were  unable  to  get  any  help  to  continue 
the  work  and  were  forced  to  abandon  it. 

After  an  interval  of  6  or  7  years,  accounts  of  the  wonderful 
discoveries  already  mentioned  had  spread  over  the  province,  and 
Dr.  Lynds,  a  young  physician  of  Truro,  Nova  Scotia,  visited  the 
island  and  interviewed  Messrs.  Smith,  Vaughn  and  McGinnis. 
On  his  return  to  Truro,  a  company  was  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
continuing  the  search.  Several  prominent  men  belonging  to 
Halifax,  Colchester  and  Pictou  counties  took  an  active  interest  in 


it,  among  whom  were  Col.  Robert  Archibald,  Sherill  Harris  and 
Capt.  David  Archibald.  Work  was  at  once  resumed  by  this 
company  and  tho  shaft  was  excavated  to  a  dejith  of  95  feet. 
Marks  were  found  every  10  feet,  as  before,  and  an  iron 
bar  was  fre(|uently  used  in  taking  soimdings.  'i'he  90  foot 
mark  was  a  flat  stone,  about  3  feet  loi  g  and  16  inches  wide.  On 
it  marks  or  characters  had  been  cut.  .Afterwards  it  was 
placed  in  the  jamb  of  a  fireplace  that  Mr.  Smith  was  building  in 
his  house,  and  while  there  was  viewed  by  thousands  of  people. 
Many  years  afterwards,  it  was  taken  out  of  the  chimney  and 
taken  to  Halifax  to  have,  if  possible,  the  characters  deciphered. 
One  expert  gave  his  reading  of  the  inscription  as  follows:  "Ten 
feet  below  are  twomilli(Mi  pounds  buried."  We  give  this  statement 
for  what  it  is  worth,  but  by  no  means  claim  that  this  is  the  correct 
interpretation.  Apart  from  this  however,  the  fact  still  remains 
that  the  history  and  description  of  the  stone  as  above  given  have 
never  been  disputed.  Until  the  depth  of  95  feet  was  reached  no 
water  had  been  encountered,  neither  had  sand  or  gravel  through 
which  water  could  possibly  percoh.te  been  met.  It  was  Saturday 
evening  when  the  depth  above  named  had  been  reached,  and  it 
was  at  this  point  that  a  woouen  platform  was  struck,  extending 
over  the  entire  surface  of  the  shaft,  as  revealed  by  the  soundings. 

This  was  on  Saturday  night.  Monday,  when  the  men  re- 
turned, the  shaft  was  found  to  be  full  of  water  within  25  or  30 
feet  from  the  top.  Notwithstanding  this  set-back  they  went  man- 
fully to  work  to  bail  it  out,  and  with  characteristic  Nova  Scotian 
pluck  continued  it  night  and  day  until  the  task  proved  utterly 
hopeless.  It  was  then  decided  to  sink  a  new  shaft  a  few  feet  to 
the  east  of  the  old  pit,  (marked  No.  i  on  map  and  which  at  that 
time  was  given  the  name  of  the  "money  pit,"  and  has  been  known 
by  that  name  ever  since),  to  the  depth  of  no  feet  and  tunnel 
under  the  "money  pit,"  below  the  location  of  the  treasure,  and 
take  it  out  from  below.  Work  was  begun  at  once  on  this  shaft, 
(marked  No.  2  on  map)  and  continued  until  the  depth* above 
named  was  reached.  Up  to  this  time  in  the  sinking  of  this  new 
shaft  no  water  had  been  met  with,  but  while  driving  a  tunnel  in 
the  direction  of  the  "money  pit,"  and  before  reaching  the  object 
sought,  the  water  suddenly  burst  in  on  them,  and  the  men  engaged 
escaped  with  their  lives  and  a  fine  drenching.  This  disaster  prac- 
tically ended  the  operations  of  this  company. 

Until  1849  nothing  was  done   in  the   direction  of  recovering 


tlu'  treasure,  bill  in  that  year  a  new  company  was  formed  and 
operations  were  resumed  at  the  "old  stand."  At  this  time  two  of  the 
•'old  dig^t-rs,"  namely,  Dr.  I.ynds  of  'I'ruro  and  Mr.  Vaughn  of 
Western  Shore  (before  mentioned,)  were  still  alive,  and  gave  the 
managers  much  valuable  information  regarding  the  old  workings, 
and  e.vpressed  their  firm  belief  in  the  existence  of  the  treasure. 
Mr.  X'aughn  (|ui(kly  located  th.e  site  of  the  "money  pit,"  which  in 
the  mean  time  had  been  filled  up.  Digging  was  commenced,  and 
went  on  without  interruption  until  the  depth  of  S6  feet  had  been 
reached,  when  the  water  again  put  in  appearance  and  the  men 
were  driven  out  of  the  pit. 

After  an  unsuci  essful  attempt  to  bail  the  water  out.  work  was 
suspended  and  the  men  returned  to  their  nomes.  Shortly  after, 
men  with  boring  apparatus  of  primitive  description,  used  in  pros- 
pecting for  coal,  were  sent  to  the  island.  Mr.  J.  15.  McC'ully  of 
Truro,  who  is  still  living  and  tells  these  facts,  was  manager.  A 
platform  was  rigged  in  the  "money  pit,"  30  feet  lielow  the  surface 
and  just  above  the  water.  The  boring  started  and  we  submit  a 
verbatim  statement  of  the  manager:  "'I'he  platform  was  struck 
at  98  ft.,  just  as  the  old  diggers,  as  before  mentioned,  found  it 
when  sounding  with  the  iron  bar.  After  going  thr(fUgh  this  plat- 
form, which  was  five  inches  thick,  and  proved  to  be  spruce,  the 
augur  dropped  12  inches  and  then  went  through  4  inches  of  oak; 
then  it  went  through  22  inches  of  metal  in  pieces,  but  the  augur 
failed  to  take  any  of  it  in  except  ^^  links,  resembling  an  ancient 
watch  chain.  It  then  went  through  8  mches  of  oak,  which  was 
thought  to  be  the  bottom  of  the  first  box  and  top  of  the  next;  then 
22  inches  of  metal,  the  same  as  before;  then  4  inches  of  oak  and 
6  inches  of  spruce;  then  into  clay  7  ft.  without  striking  anything 
else.  In  next  boring  the  platform  was  struck  as  before  at  98  ft. ; 
passing  through  this,  the  augur  fell  about  18  inches  and  came  in 
contact  with,  as  supposeil,  the  side  of  a  cask.  The  flat  chisel 
revolving  close  to  the  side  of  the  cask  gave  it  a  jerky  and  irregu- 
lar motion.  On  withdrawing  the  augur  several  splinters  of  oak, 
such  as  might  come  from  the  side  of  an  oak  stave,  and  a  small 
quantity  of  a  brown  fibrous  substance,  closely  resembling  the 
husk  of  a  cocoanut,  were  brought  up.  The  distance  between  the 
upper  and  lower  platforms  was  found  to  be  6  feet." 

Not  satisfied  with  the  result  of  the  boring  just  above  described, 
another  crew,  of  which  the  late  Jas.  Pitblado  was  foreman,  was 
sent  to  make  further  investigations  with  practically  (as  far  as  the 


8 


wood  at  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  was  concerned)  the  same  result 
as  before.  The  late  John  Gammell,  of  Upper  Stewiacke,  N.  S., 
who  was  present  at  the  boring  and  who  was  a  large  share  holder, 
and  whose  veracity  would  not  be  questioned,  stated  that  It  saw 
Mr.  Pitblatlo  take  something  out  of  the  augur,  wash  and  examine 
it  closely,  then  put  it  in  his  pocket.  When  asked  by  Mr.  Gam- 
mell to  show  what  it  was,  he  declined,  and  said  he  would  show  it 
at  the  meeting  of  directors  on  their  re'.urn,  but  Mr.  Fitblado 
failed  to  appear  at  ?aid  meeting.  It  was  subsequently  reported 
that  Mr.  Pitblado  hiid  made  some  revelations  to  the  then  manager 
of  the  Acadia  Iron  Works  at  Londonderry,  N.  S.,  which  revela- 
tions led  that  gentleman  to  make  a  determined,  but  unsuccessful, 
effort  to  get  possession  of  that  part  of  the  island  where  the 
treasure  is  believed  to  be.  But  as  the  manager  spoken  of  above 
was  a  few  years  later  called  to  England,  and  Mr.  Pitblado  in  the 
mean  time  had  been  accidenta'iy  killed  In  a  gold  mine,  nothing 
further  came  of  it.  Nothing  further  was  done  until  the  following 
summer,  1850,  when  a  new  shaft  (marked  No.  3,)  was  sunk  at  the 
west  side  of  the  "money  pit."  and  about  10  ft.  from  it.  This 
shaft  was  109  ft.  deep  and  was  through  the  hardest  kind  of  red 
clay,  Mr.  A.  \..  Tupper,  then  of  Upper  Stewiacke,  N.  S.,  but 
now  of  South  Framingham,  Mass.,  who  helped  sink  this  shaft, 
gives  the  fcllcwing  account:  "A  tunnel  was  driven  from  the  bot- 
tom in  the  direction  of  the  "money  pit."  Just  before  reaching 
that  point,  the  water  burst  in  and  the  workmen  fled  for  their  lives 
and  in  twenty  minutes  there  was  45  ft.  of  water  in  the  new  pit. 
The  sole  object  in  view  in  sinking  this  shaft  was  to  increase  the 
bailing  facilities,  for  which  purpose  preparations  had  been  made, 
and  bailing  was  resumed  in  both  the  new  and  old  pits,  each  being 
equipped  with  two  two-horse  gins.  Work  was  carried  on  night  and 
day  for  about  a  week,  but  all  in  vain,  the  only  difference  being  that 
with  the  doubled  appliances  the  water  could  be  kept  at  a  lower 
level  than  formerly.  About  this  time,  the  discovery  was  1  '!e  that 
the  water  was  salt,  and  that  it  rose  and  fell  in  both  shafts  about  18 
inches  corresponding  with  the  tides.  It  was  considered  extremely 
improbable  that  the  flow  of  water  came  through  a  natural  channel, 
and  if  not  through  a  natural,  it  necessarily  must  be  through  an 
artificial  one,  having  its  inlet  somewhere  on  the  shore.  In  supjiort 
of  the  theory  that  the  water  did  not  enter  the  "money  pit" 
through  a  natural  channel,  it  was  arjrued  that  had  it  done  so,  the 
original  diggers  (supposed  to  be  pirates)  must  have  struck  it,  and 


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if  they  did,  it  is  certain  that  the  workmen  would  have  been  driven 
from  the  pit  by  the  great  flow  of  water,  and  the  shaft  would 
necessarily  have  been  abandoned.  This  evidently  was  not  the 
case,  as  we  have  ample  evidence  from  the  fact  that  the  wooden 
platforms  were  carefully  placed  in  position  at  the  bottom  of  the 
shaft,  (see  the  ;u  < ount  of  borings  already  given)  as  well  a:  the 
fact  that  the  shaft  had  been  systematically  filled  up,  with  marks 
placed  at  f'very  lo  ft.,  as  previously  stated.  Acting  on  this 
theory  a  searcli  was  at  once  begun  in  order  to  find  such  inlet. 
Smith's  Cove,  nu  the  extreme  eastern  end  of  the  island  and  about 
30  rods  from  the  "money  pit"  was  first  examined  by  reason  of  its 
many  natural  advantages  as  a  starting  point  for  work  of  this 
kind,  and  from  the  fact  that  at  about  the  centre  of  this  cove 
it  had  always  been  noticed  that  at  low  tide,  water  was  running 
out  of  the  sand.  Investigations  were  begun  at  this  point  and 
the  result  of  a  few  minutes'  shoveling  proved  beyond  a  doubt  that 
they  had  struck  the  place  they  were  looking  for.  After  removing 
the  sand  and  gravel  covering  the  beach,  they  came  to  a  covering 
or  bed  of  a  brown,  fibrous  plant,  the  fibre  very  much  1  ^^sembling 
the  husk  of  a  cocoanut,  and  when  compared  with  the  plant  that 
was  bored  out  of  the  "money  pit"  already  mentioned,  no  differ- 
ence in  the  two  could  be  detected.  However  it  was  subsequently 
proved  to  be  a  tropical  plant,  in  former  times  used  as  "dunnage" 
in  stowing  ship's  cargo.  The  surface  covered  by  this  plant  ex- 
tended 145  feet  along  the  shore  line,  and  from  a  little  above  low 
to  high  water  mark,  and  about  2  inches  in  thickness.  Underlying 
this  and  to  the  same  extent  was  about  4  or  5  inches  of  decayed 
eel  grass,  and  under  this  was  a  compact  mass  of  beach  rocks  free 
from  sand  or  gravel. 

It  was  found  impracticable  to  remove  these  rocks  and  make 
further  investigation  unless  the  tide  was  kept  back.  According- 
ly a  coffer  dam  was  built  around  this  part  of  the  cove,  including 
the  boundaries  just  described.  After  removing  the  rocks  nearest 
the  ^ow  water,  it  was  found  that  the  clay  (which  with  the  sand  and 
gravel  originally  formed  the  beach)  had  been  dug  out  and  re- 
moved and  replaced  by  beach  rocks.  Resting  on  the  bottom  of 
this  excavation  were  five  well  constructed  drains  (as  shown  on  the 
plan)  formed  by  laying  parallel  lines  of  rocks  about  8  inches 
apart  and  covering  the  same  with  flat  stones.  These  drains  at  the 
starting  point  were  a  considerable  distance  apart,  but  converged 
towards  a  common  centre  at  the  back  of  tlie   excavation.     With 


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the  exception  of  these  drains  the  other  rocks  had  evidently  been 
thrown  in  promiscuously.  Work  went  on  until  half  of  the  rocks 
had  been  removed  where  the  clay  lianks  at  the  extreme  sides 
.showed  a  depth  of  5  ft.,  at  which  depth  a  partially  burned  piece  of 
oak  wood  was  found.  About  this  time  an  unusually  high  tide 
overflowed  the  top  of  the  dam;  and  as  it  had  not  been  constructed 
to  resist  pressure  from  the  inside,  when  the  tide  receded,  it  was 
carried  away.  To  rebuild  it  would  cost  a  lot  of  money,  and  as 
there  still  remained  a  large  amount  of  rocks  to  be  removed,  and 
as  there  could  be  no  reasonable  doubt  that  the  place  we  have  tried 
to  describe  was  the  outwork  of  and  starting  point  of  a  tunnel  by 
which  the  water  was  conveyed  to  the  bottom  of  the  "money  pit," 
it  was  decided  to  abandon  the  work  on  the  shore  and  to  sink  a 
shaft  a  short  distance  inland  from  the  starting  point  and  directly 
over  the  tunnel,  which  it  was  expected,  if  found,  would  be  less  than 
25  feet  from  the  surface;  and  if  so,  the  intention  was  to  drive 
spiles  through  and  thereby  stop  the  further  passage  of  the  water. 
A  spot  was  selected  and  a  shaft  was  put  down,  (marked  No.  4)  to 
a  depth  of  75  ft.  Realizing  the  fact  that  they  must  have  passed 
the  tunnel,  work  was  stopped  on  this  pit.  It  is  worthy  to  note 
that  the  clay  formation  passed  through  in  sinking  this  shaft  was 
exactly  the  same  as  encountered  in  the  ,3  other  pits  mentioned, 
neither  was  water  met  with.  Another  and  a  more  careful 
survey  having  been  made,  work  was  begun  on  another  shaft  about 
12  ft.  to  the  south  of  the  one  just  abandoned  (marked  No.  5.) 
When  a  depth  of  35  feet  had  been  reached,  a  large  boulder  lying 
in  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  was  pried  up,  and  a  rush  of  water  im- 
mediately followed  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  shaft  was  full  to  tide 
level.  An  effort  was  then  made  to  carry  out  the  original  program 
of  driving  spiles,  but  as  the  ajjpliances  at  command  were  of  the 
most  crude  description,  the  effort  was  a  failure.  But  at  the  same 
time  it  must  be  admitted  that  striking  salt  water  in  this  pit  at  the 
depth  named:  and  also  the  other  fact  that  in  the  other  shaft  only 
12  ft.  distant  and  75  ft.  deep,  no  water  was  found,  proves  beyond 
a  doubt  that  the  tunnel  theory  was  correct." 

A  short  time  after  another  shaft  (marked  No.  6,)  was  sunk  on 
the  south  side  of  the  "money  pit,"  and  to  a  depth  of  118  ft. 
this  made  the  4th  one  (including  the  "money  pit")  that  had  been 
pift  down  at  this  place,  and  in  such  close  proximity  to  each  other 
that  a  circle  50  ft.  in  diameter  would  include  the  whole.  The 
<:onditions  found  in  sinking  this  4th  shaft  were  precisely  the   same 


12 


as  in  the  other  shafts.  As  ah-eady  stated,  this  new  shaft  was  i  liJ 
ft.  deep,  a  greater  depth  by  8  ft.  than  had  previously  been  reached. 
A  tunnel  was  driven  towards,  and  reached  a  point  directly  under, 
a  part  at  least  of  the  bottom  of  the  "money  pit."  It  was  now 
the  dinner  hour,  and  the  workmen  had  just  come  out  for  that 
meal.  Before  they  had  finished  dinner,  a  great  crash  was  heard  in 
the  direction  of  the  works.  Rushing  back  to  the  pit,  they  found 
that  the  bottom  of  the  "money  pit"  had  fallen  into  the  tunnel 
that  they  had  a  short  time  before  vacated  and  that  the  new  shaft 
was  fast  filling  with  water.  Subsecjuently  it  was  found  that  12  ft. 
of  nmd  had  been  driven  by  the  force  of  water  from  the  old  to  the 
new  shaft. 

The  funds  of  this  company  in  the  meantime  having  been 
exhausted  nothing  was  practically  done  that  we  are  aware  of  until 
1863.  In  that  year  another  effort  was  made  to  overcome  the 
water  and  secure  the  long  searched  for  treasure.  On  this  occasion 
a  powerful  engine  and  pump  were  brought  on  the  ground.  The 
engine  was  placed  in  position  with  the  pump^n  the  118  ft.  shaft, 
and  the  work  of  clearing  out  the  water  and  the  12  ft.  of  mud  at 
the  bottom  of  the  staft  commenced.  The  object  in  view  was  to 
clear  out  the  pit  and  the  tunnel  between  it  and  the  "money  pit" 
where  the  treasure  was  supposed  to  have  fallen  when  the  cave-in 
above  stated  took  place.  The  undertaking  proved  to  be  very 
difficult,  as  the  flow  of  water  was  heavy;  and  on  account  of  this 
and  other  obstacles  little  progress  was  made,  but  as  the  water  on  its 
way  from  the  "money  pit"  to  the  pump  had  to  pass  through  many 
feet  of  loose  earth,  it  was  possible  to  keep  the  water  in  the 
shaft  below  the  100  ft.  level.  But  the  most  remarkable  thing  in 
connection  with  this  company  (and  to  which  your  particular  atten- 
tion is  invited)  is  the  f.iCt  that  while  the  pum|)ing  was  being  con- 
tinued the  water  in  the  pit  down  by  the  shore,  (No.  5,)  in  which 
thi'  lunnel  had  been  struck,  was  kept  at  a  much  lower  level  than 
before  or  after,  thus  proving  the  existence  of  a  subterranean  water 
course. 

About  this  time  the  men  engaged  in  the  underground  work, 
one  I  if  whom  was  Mr.  A.  A.  Tupper  before  mentioned,  got  the 
idea  that  the  shaft  was  in  danger  of  caving  in  and  some  of  them 
refused  to  go  into  it.  An  expert  examination  was  made  of  the  shaft, 
and  it  was  found  to  be  in  a  very  unsafe  condition  and  was  forthwith 
condemned.  The  punij)  was  withdrawn  and  the  shaft  abandoned 
and  work  was  suspended.      The  management  were  at  their  wits  end 


13 


and  did  not  know  which  way  to  turn  or  what  course  to  take  to  sur- 
mount the  overwhehiiing  diflficulty.  However,  it  appears  that  a 
syndicate  of  Halifax  capitalists  had  in  the  meantime  been  organ- 
ized, and  in  a  few  days  after  the  events  above  mentioned,  they  en- 
tered into  an  aggreement  with  the  old  company  to  clean  out  the 
old  "money  pit,"  and  recover  the  treasure  for  a  share  of  the 
amount  so  received.  This  syndicate  spent  a  large  amount  of 
money  in  sinking  a  new  shaft,  (marked  No.  7)  and  made  heroic 
efforts  to  t)vercome  the  flow  of  water,  but  were  forced  to  abandon 
it.  The  pump  and  engine  were  taken  back  to  Halifax,  and  from 
that  day  to  this  no  efforts  worthy  of  note  have  been  made  to  re- 
cover the  treasure. 

Various  experiments,  not  mentioned  above  have  also  been 
made  which  conclusively  prove  that  the  various  pits  are  directly 
connected  with  the  ocean  by  means  of  this  underground  tunnel. 
About  sixteen  years  ago  the  present  owner  of  the  island  was 
plowing  with  oxen  near  these  pits,  and  when  about  eighty  feet 
from  the  pit  over  the  tunnel  toward  the  "money  pit,"  both  of  his 
oxen  suddenly  went  down  into  a  hole  some  six  or  eight  feet  in 
diameter  and  ten  or  fifteen  feet  deep.  It  is  supposed  that  this 
washout  had  something  to  do  with  the  tunnel  itself,  as  it  was  ap- 
parently directly  over  it.  Hut  no  further  investigations  of  the 
cause  of  this  collapse  of  the  earth's  surface  have  ever  been  made. 

Only  a  very  short  time  ago,  a  young  man  found  on  the  island 
a  copi)er  coin,  weighing  an  ounce  and  a  half,  dated  1317,  on 
which  were  various  strange  devices.  Some  years  ago,  a  boat- 
swain's stone  whistle  was  also  found  on  the  island,  of  a  very 
ancient  pattern,  but  it  was  accidentally  broken  by  the  finder  and 
was  thrown  away. 

IT, AN    01      IIIK    NEW    COMPANY. 

I'irmly  believing  this  treasure  can  be  recovered,  a  company 
has  been  organized,  with  $60,000  capital,  in  shares  of  $5  each, 
of  which  :fi3o,ooo  has  been  used  in  preliminary  work  by  the 
promoters  and  for  a  three  yf'ars'  lease  of  that  part  of  the 
island  on  which  it  is  expected  to  make  explorations  and  the 
absolute  right  to  all  that  may  be  recovered  by  such  explo- 
ration. The  remaining  stock,  $30,000,  has  been  set  aside  as  a 
fund  from  which  to  raise  funds  for  continuing  the  work,  and  will 
be  sold  from  time  to  time;  but  no  more  will  be  sold  than  is  needed 
to  complete  the  work,  and  what  remains  unsold  will  be  divided 
pro  rata  among  all  stockholders. 


l 


14 

It  is  perfectly  e\  ident  that  the  great  mistake  thus  far  has  beein 
in  attempting  to  "l)ail  out"  the  ocean  through  the  various  pits. 
The  present  company  intends  to  use  the  best  modern  appliances, 
for  cutting  off  the  flow  of  water  through  the  tunnel,  at  some  point 
near  the  shore,  before  attempting  to  pump  out  the  water.  It 
believes,  from  investigations  already  made,  that  such  an  attempt 
will  be  completely  successful;  and  if  it  is,  there  can  be  no  trouble 
in  pumping  out  the  "money  pit"  as  dry  as  when  the  treasure  was 
first  placed  there. 

The  office  of  the  Company  is  Room  25,  No.  4  Liberty  S(iUBre, 
Boston,  Mass  ,  where  all  further  information  desired  may  be 
obtained. 


AFFIDAVIT    OF    ONE    WHO    KNOWS. 

I,  Adams  A.  Tuppcr,  of  South  I'ramingham,  Mass,  having  in 
the  summers  of  1850-51,  ;ilso  1863,  worked  for  the  company  thert 
operating  on  Oak  Island,  and  being  f.-miliar  with  the  various 
reports  and  traditions  concerning  the  work  done  there  before  my 
own  personal  knowlec'ge,  hereby  make  oath  that  the  foregoing 
statement  regarding  the  same  is,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and 
belief,  absolutely  true.  Adams  A.  Tippfk. 

MlDDI,i:sK\,  SS.  CoMMONWKAI.l'H    OK    M.\. ''-ACHUSF'I-TS.   / 

Nov.  23,  1893.  ) 

Then  personally  appeared  the  above  named  Adams  A.  Tuppcr 
and  made  oath  that  the  foregoing  statement  by  him  subscribetl  is 
true,  before  me.  Clerk  of  the  First  District  Court  of  Southern 
Middlesex,  a  Court  of  Record  in  said  County  and  State. 

Witness  my  hand  and  the  seal  of  said  Court, 

JOS.  H.  LADD.  Clerk. 


